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 When
can we expect to see reports focusing on the high prices we have to pay
for windshield washer solution. This stuff now costs $2 per gallon, well
in excess of the going rate for gasoline these days. Windshield washer
fluid pricing only includes the basic sales tax, whereas gasoline prices
include a significant tax upcharge. I don’t recall hearing much about refining
facilities for windshield washer fluid. So what’s the primary pricing driver
for this stuff? The plastic bottle surely doesn’t cost all that much. There
aren’t a lot of distribution related costs to deal with, no pipelines,
tanker trucks, storage tanks, and pumps! All I know is that I’m going through
windshield washer fluid at the rate of a gallon or so per week this winter,
and I’m now looking to buy the stuff in five-gallon increments. At the
rate we’re all using this stuff up this winter, there’s surely an emerging
environmental problem on the horizon. A lot of this stuff has been misted
into the air over the tops of vehicles at speed!
There are of course other winter problems with which we’re all dealing. I purchased new wheels to use on my Audi in the winter (with snow tires), and of course I’ve bent one of them on a monster pothole. I’ve not washed my car in weeks, and so it’s now so dirty you can’t get near it without the salt and grime winding up on your clothes. I figure I’m due for a cracked windshield any day, what with all the material being dumped on the highways in a effort to make them driveable. When it finally does warm up we’ll have to suffer through the spring highway pothole patch program, which will have limited benefit, and will result in a lot of loose tar ending up on our cars. Aren’t we having a wonderful winter! I did get a few dates of respite from the winter (just after New Year’s day and the big heavy wet snow fall – Susana learned how to drive the garden tractor snow blower!), when I traveled down to Daytona. I was there to assist for a few days while Mark Greenberg’s NETTTS GT3RS practiced for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona race. The weather was a little on the cool side, but a whole lot better than here! The testing went well with no major problems. Mark’s co-drivers are Barry Brensinger, Jim Hamblin, and Jim Nelson, and they all got in some productive seat time in the new car. By the time you are reading this column we’ll hopefully have finished the race without incident, and had lots of fun in the process. While we were at Daytona we had an opportunity to watch the new Grand-Am prototype class cars on the track. There are only five of six of them built so far, so the odds of any of them finishing the race aren’t all that great. It is apparent that they aren’t all that fast, only a couple of seconds quicker than the GTS class cars, and they sure aren’t attractive. I don’t think this new class will do much to build fan interest in the Grand-Am series. Even the Fabcar/Porsche is unattractive. When was the last time you thought a Porsche powered racecar was unattractive? The Grand-Am series has not been a success with fans, so it will be interesting to see how many show for the 24 Hours. I can say with certainty that the Grand-Am organization is lacking. I’ve now filled out the same membership form four times, once in the presence of a Grand-Am official who took my picture for my badge. They’ve some how either lost the first three forms, or determined that in some obscure way they didn’t pass muster. Crew registration at the track will no doubt be totally screwed up. The race itself should be interesting in that probably half the entrants will be Porsche GT3 RS’s. I’m sure the competition will be close, and should look a lot like a Club Race. The Speed Channel plans on broadcast about 16 hours of the race, so hopefully you’ll have tuned in to see how we’re doing. The one automotive bright spot this winter so far involved the arrival of our new F350 Ford truck. We ordered it with the new generation higher performance diesel engine and transmission. The hype had said that the new engine and transmission would be quieter than a gasoline engine, with more power in less physical space. The good news is that the overall package is far better than any of the press releases suggested. The engine is real quiet and very powerful, and the new transmission is so smooth you can’t hear it or feel it shift. Several members in the region have purchased the new Ford trucks, and they’re all similarly pleased. I even heard one report of a 20-miles/gallon-highway excursion. That’s real impressive for such a large truck. I’m anxious to see how the new truck performs pulling a large trailer, but that will have to wait for a few months. We didn’t make it out to the Barrett-Jackson Classic Cars Auction in Scottsdale, as was our original plan. I did, however, watch most of the television coverage, which was quite entertaining especially when Brock Yates was providing commentary. Once again I was amazed at the money people were willing to spend to purchase late ‘60’s early ‘70’s muscle cars. Most of the better models sold from $65,000 up to and over $100,000. I didn’t see any Boss 302 Mustangs go on the block, but several Shelby GT350’s went for big money. A Don Johnson (actor) owned Plymouth Cuda went for over $115,000, a sum I found way over the top in logic. You’d never guess the economy was struggling given what people were willing to pay for the cars auctioned over the weekend. Maybe we’ll make it to Scottsdale next year, to watch… In addition to liking Porsches, I’m still a fan of Ford Mustangs. I wish I still owned my ’70 Boss 302, and I’m really attracted to this year’s Mustang concept car that was shown at the Detroit and LA Auto Shows. I hope future production cars draw on the concept car’s ideas, and that they come with the performance potential of the show car. Humorous advertising line of the month, for the new Hummer H2: You give us the money, we give you the truck, and nobody gets hurt. |
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